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Pilot Custom Urushi


mke

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I found this link online...I think it's of the Custom Urushi, but the Translate function wasn't working:

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/Sankodo_PenShop/status/908516746612506626

 

Says that the product is called custom urushi "Zhu". Will be released in November. Accepting reservations.

 

Price seems to be 88,000 Yen, compared to 85,000 for the black model

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Does Sankodo sell to the US?

 

I managed to see a black Custom Urushi at the Dallas Pen Show before it was sold by Anderson Pens. The nib looks wonderful, but the pen seemed to me to be too fat for its length. I find the proportions of the Namiki Yukari Royale urushi more pleasing. Of course, the Namiki is a more expensive pen, but it is readily available in the US.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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Does Sankodo sell to the US?

 

I managed to see a black Custom Urushi at the Dallas Pen Show before it was sold by Anderson Pens. The nib looks wonderful, but the pen seemed to me to be too fat for its length. I find the proportions of the Namiki Yukari Royale urushi more pleasing. Of course, the Namiki is a more expensive pen, but it is readily available in the US.

I got the black one just after they announced the release of the Custom Urushi. The imprint and curve at both sides makes it looks fat, but it's actually a slim nib if comparing to 50# and JoWo 8# nibs.

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Finally !

The long awaited red Urushi for 88000 and a 3000-Yen price drop for the black one. Good and bad news. Good is that they sell it cheaper as I feared. Bad is that there is still too much black in this pen.

 

Looks like a bit like a "bellboy".

Edited by mke
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I got the black one just after they announced the release of the Custom Urushi. The imprint and curve at both sides makes it looks fat, but it's actually a slim nib if comparing to 50# and JoWo 8# nibs.

Its supposed to take on the MB 149 and thus has a similar sized nib. Would not have made sense for Pilot to furnish the Custom Urushi with a #50 and sell it for ~60% of the price of an Emperor (especially considering that the Emperor is back ordered for 6 months in the US)

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Its supposed to take on the MB 149 and thus has a similar sized nib. Would not have made sense for Pilot to furnish the Custom Urushi with a #50 and sell it for ~60% of the price of an Emperor (especially considering that the Emperor is back ordered for 6 months in the US)

 

The proportion looks slimmer, the size is surely smaller than a 50# and larger than a JoWo 8#.

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Hi,

 

I asked folks at Aesthetic Bay if the new Pilot Custom Urushi, like the Custom 845 had plain plastic/resin grip section and cap/barrel finials. THey checked with Pilot and confirmed that these parts are not coated with Urushi. It is still a LARGE beautiful pen and I will buy one. However, I find it disappointing that the whole pen is not done in Urushi.

 

Joe

Download my FREE interactive iBook, Script in the Copperplate-Style made specifically for the Apple iPad and Mac at:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/script-in-copperplate-style/id547108521?ls=1

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Hi,

 

I asked folks at Aesthetic Bay if the new Pilot Custom Urushi, like the Custom 845 had plain plastic/resin grip section and cap/barrel finials. THey checked with Pilot and confirmed that these parts are not coated with Urushi. It is still a LARGE beautiful pen and I will buy one. However, I find it disappointing that the whole pen is not done in Urushi.

 

Joe

 

 

I have two theories about this:

 

1) I've read elsewhere that urushi is not immune to issues caused by prolonged ink exposure. Thus the dipping end is in this way protected.

 

2) Compared to other urushi pens, this is a mass produced product. Thus they may have a separate production procedure for nibs/feeds and sections to be applied later to the hand-urushied body.

 

Normally plastic would imply cost cutting. But I speculate more toward logistical issues as this pen already commands a high price and I doubt they'd nickel-and-dime on a flagship.

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Hi,

 

I asked folks at Aesthetic Bay if the new Pilot Custom Urushi, like the Custom 845 had plain plastic/resin grip section and cap/barrel finials. THey checked with Pilot and confirmed that these parts are not coated with Urushi. It is still a LARGE beautiful pen and I will buy one. However, I find it disappointing that the whole pen is not done in Urushi.

 

Joe

If the whole pen was done in urushi. Then there would be no point for selling a Yukari Royale for higher price...

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There's a significant different between the price of Yukari Royale and Custom Urushi. Yukari Royale retails at 1.5x the price of Custom Urushi. Following may be the reasons (imo) for it:

 

1. Less number of layers of Urushi on Custom Urushi and not fully lacquered.

2. Namiki nibs tend to be a bit thicker than Pilot nibs. Not talking about the nib width here, talking about the thickness of the gold sheet used to make the nibs.

 

The second reason may be a moot point because Yukari has a smaller nib, but first one is the main reason.

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There's a significant different between the price of Yukari Royale and Custom Urushi. Yukari Royale retails at 1.5x the price of Custom Urushi. Following may be the reasons (imo) for it:

 

1. Less number of layers of Urushi on Custom Urushi and not fully lacquered.

2. Namiki nibs tend to be a bit thicker than Pilot nibs. Not talking about the nib width here, talking about the thickness of the gold sheet used to make the nibs.

 

The second reason may be a moot point because Yukari has a smaller nib, but first one is the main reason.

1. There were no official statement about layers of urushi difference between models. Namiki was revived in 1995 and before that there were no Namiki. All high end models were made under Pilot brand, there should be no reason for Pilot downgrading their product for their new brand. And there were still many very expensive Pilot models made after 1995.

2. Many of Pilot/Namiki models use the same nib, just with different imprints. And since Pilot use a special method to process their gold sheet to achieve a non-uniform thickness in the axial direction, it would be very hard to compare the thickness between models. I could confirm that 14K Pilot emperor and 18K Namiki emperor has less than 5% difference in thickness, measured using a micrometer.

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Just received my copy of this pen. Love the springy nib and the large size of the pen body!

 

37320795292_81d5e7a7eb_b.jpg

 

36681215343_fc6a3ba1ab_b.jpg

 

I'll apreciate more opinions, more pics, even a full review, as I'm seriously considering this pen as my next purchase. Thanks in advance and congratulations!

Roger

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I'll apreciate more opinions, more pics, even a full review, as I'm seriously considering this pen as my next purchase. Thanks in advance and congratulations!

 

 

I've posted some thoughts at my website: http://www.sketchstack.com/pilot-custom-urushi.html

 

And here are a couple of enticing images:

 

http://www.sketchstack.com/uploads/4/9/6/7/49676353/img-7042_orig.jpg

 

http://www.sketchstack.com/uploads/4/9/6/7/49676353/img-0036_orig.jpg

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The vermillion Urushi pen will be sold from October 20.

I was at Maruzen today and was told that there are already a lot of pre-reservations for this pen.

That means the first production lot is (nearly) sold out. The next lot to arrive at Maruzen will come next year.

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